Monday, September 22, 2014

Great Reading and Rainforest Cookies to nibble on

The rainforest’s secret is known to a very few. But each is perfectly
placed to profit from it. The secret is lithium— sometimes described as
the oil of the 21st century—and the knowledge of it has spawned a crime
cabal led by Vietnamese gangster-turned-investor Johnny Ho and including
a diverse cast of fellow crooks. Their plan is to own the priceless
resource in the middle of the island of New Guinea, cut down the
rainforest, and leverage themselves into financial control of most of
Southeast Asia. To protect them they have a weapon only a nuclear strike
can combat. Or so they think.

The first female president of a
United States, self sufficient in oil but totally without the precious
lithium, has her own plans. Andrei Kuznetsov, chess aficionado, avid
reader and unlikely secret agent, is sent to make them a reality. The
Australians, meanwhile, are also aware of the deposit and have their own
intentions—with an SAS team on call to support them.

As the
story unfolds through murder, jealousy, corruption and a Category A
hurricane, Kuznetsov comes to realize the players have reckoned without
one factor—the nation that holds the deposit and the beautiful young
woman who will emerge to lead it.

The presence of a national heroine (and the people who call the forest home) forces them all to think again.